Xue Hongyan|About the name
Before going to bed last night, my daughter suddenly asked me the origin of my name. "Mom, were you called this name when you were a child?" she asked doubtfully. "Yeah, it's so difficult that you changed your name halfway?" She said, "That's not what I meant. This name was too old when I was a child." After listening to her words, I suddenly realized that this thought was out of bounds, and it was really a question that was not answered! When I get older, I feel that a name is nothing more than a code name, but when you think about it carefully, the name you give your child contains so much love and affection from your parents!
There are three sisters in my family, and I am the youngest. Back then, my mother, who had two children, didn’t want me at all, but she kept me because of a grandmother’s words. "Since the child has come to you, it is destined to stay. If it is a boy, he will be a companion with his brother." Since my brother was in poor health when he was a child, he always ran to the hospital every three days. My mother hoped that I would never meet him again. If I can be healthy and strong, I will be named Yan. Unexpectedly, I was born a girl. My mother and father still liked me as always. Of course, they also wanted me to be strong and healthy, so they named me after me. The ancestors of our family are listed in the family tree, and my generation is listed with the word "red", so the combination is Hongyan, which has the same name as a revolutionary novel. What a coincidence. In my family tree, the women have no names, they are all called so-and-so, with the husband’s surname first, and my own surname last. The first name does not appear at all, and the word “surname” is used instead. It is really sad to think about it.
People in Northeastern rural areas often give names with nicknames. Such children are easy to support. There is nothing you can't think of, such as dog leftovers, full tables, taking care of younger brothers, recruiting younger brothers, full warehouses, and iron eggs. There is nothing we can't do. I remember when I was a child, there was a child whose nickname was Man Desk. The implication was that she was the fourth child when she was born, and a table happened to be full, so she was called Man Desk. There was also a child named Zhao Di, because she was full of older sisters. , I hope she will recruit a younger brother. This is such a strong idea of passing on the family line! There is also someone named Lian Xi, why? Because both of them are boys in a row! We have to admit that in rural areas with backward productivity, the desire for labor is, to a certain extent, greater than the need to continue the family line.
For a famous name, it is still relatively serious. However, the Chinese characters are extensive and profound, and sometimes the names given make people dare not savor them carefully! I remember I once had a colleague, his name was Zhao Weichao - great, transcendent, simply perfect. However, if you read it carefully, it turns out to be "counterfeit banknotes." There is no intention to laugh at him here, and after everyone has been together for a long time, they no longer call him by his real name, but just call him "counterfeit money". He also happily agreed, laughing happily regardless of you and me, and even closer to each other.
Of course, a nickname is also a type of name. This mainly depends on the circumstances under which it is chosen. One thing I heard a few days ago made me laugh. A man was so worried about not marrying the daughter of the leader. Later I heard that the "top leader" was not the leader of the company, but the security guard at the company's gate. This shows the nickname. It’s very harmful! There are many personal selfishness in this, and it should not be attributed to the casual name!
There are many names in the world of words. Ordinary people like me also remember many names. Relatives and friends, ancient and modern, relevant and irrelevant, this string of names has taught us a lot. Perhaps she was the first person to tie knots to remember things in ancient times. She did not expect that this seemingly insignificant action was the beginning of civilization. Just like the day the name appeared, human beings truly became the masters, and the inspiration and inheritance continued from generation to generation. Cai Lun, Bi Sheng, Sima Qian... princes and generals, dynasties have changed, the situation has changed, and harmony is now.
Can we not care about the meaning of the name? Perhaps it was my young daughter’s question that made me feel that the meaning of a name is not only the hope of parents, but to a greater extent it should be to warm myself and illuminate others!
About the author: Xue Hongyan, female, Manchu, from Fushun City. Member of ten groups of Fushun Writers Association. After work, I like reading and writing. Occasionally, prose appeared in newspapers.